Shown here are a pair of some of the earliest radio transcription records made featuring the radio comedy CECIL and SALLY c.1930, made by the MacGregor and Ingram Recording Laboratories, pioneers in electrical radio transcriptions. The discs are 12" diameter and play at 78 rpm. They are well used with scuffs and scratches that will affect the playback, but they play all the way through with no problems.

Included are Part 2 of episodes 193 & 194 on the first disc, and Part 1 of episodes 195 & 196 on the second disc. A tantalizing glimpse into the show! You can listen to MP3 samples and watch the records playing on YouTube. The sound has not been enhanced. What you hear and see is what you will get.

This program was originally called 'The Funniest Things' but this was soon changed to 'Cecil and Sally'. Cecil and Sally were portrayed by Johnny Patrick and Helen Troy. Patrick wrote the scripts for the show. It was one of the earliest radio shows to be distributed via electrical transcription, following the successful example of the Amos N Andy show. These early transcriptions were to be aired in August of 1930.

The show was first broadcast in 1928 on KYA in San Francisco. At the peak of their popularity from 1930 - 1932, the show was broadcast over 53 radio stations, including 27 states, 5 Canadian provinces, the Hawaiian Islands, Australia and New Zealand. By 1933, the program was no longer produced and the actors went on to other work. Johnny Patrick became a noted playwright and in 1953, he won a Tony and a Pulitzer Prize for his stage adaptation of the 1951 novel 'Teahouse of the August Moon'. Hard to believe he got his start writing Cecil and Sally scripts!

These transcriptions would have been pressed for each show and distributed to the various subscriber radio stations. They were to be played once, then shipped back to be destroyed to prevent any unauthorized broadcasts of their program. Probably about 75 or so of these would have been made originally. I don't know how many have survived the last 80 years, but I suspect they are quite hard to come by. A rare peak into the entertainment world of the period.